


The Team Taking Care of Tony

by DeanIsSaved



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Fluff, Gen, Howard Stark was a Dick, Hurt Tony, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD, Past Child Abuse, Protective Avengers, Tony-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-11
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 03:41:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3921607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeanIsSaved/pseuds/DeanIsSaved
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The title. Every member of the team taking care of their favorite genius billionaire playboy philanthropist</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Clint

Tony had been in his workshop when it first happened. Well, first that he noticed anyways. He had been working on repairs after a particularly rough fight, everyone was fine but the suit had been battered. Tony had spent the last couple of days (he had already lost track, funny how the workshop was like a casino) working on repairs and upgrades. He almost didn’t catch Natasha as she plummeted off the roof; Tony hadn’t been watching for it because that was usually Clint’s genius move. It was a dumb mistake. Tony wouldn't let it happen again. He couldn't.

Tony had his goggles on, welding together lumps of metal when Clint swung down from the vent without so much as a warning.

Tony yelped. “Jesus! Clint! I could’ve burned your face off!” Tony said, removing his safety goggles.

“Thank god you didn’t. Then who would’ve been the eye candy of the team?” He cheekily grinned. “Anyways, be grateful, for I have brought you a sandwich prepared by the master himself; me.” And held out a plate with a rather good-looking sandwich.

Tony blinked. “Why?” wide puppy-eyes red from exhaustion, grease smeared along his forehead and staring with at the archer with genuine bewilderment on his face. 

Clint fully exited the ventilation system to speak face to face with Tony. “What do you mean why? When’s the last time you’ve eaten?” 

Tony blinked again. “I… how long have I been down here?” 

Clint rolled his eyes. “Jarvis?” 

The AI’s voice came to life, “It has been 51 hours and 28 minutes since sir has eaten.” 

“Jesus, Tony! Aren’t you starving?” 

“Well, now that you mention it, I, uh, guess so.” Clint shoved the plate into Tony’s hands. 

“For a genius, you can be real dumb sometimes.” Tony just stared between the sandwich in his hands and Clint, “No sassy and slightly offensive comeback? Wow, you’re gonna need another sandwich.” 

Clint head towards the elevator this time, before Tony called to him, “But…you went out of your way to do this for me? I don’t… understand.”

Clint stopped. “Well that’s a first. You’re my friend, Tony. Probably one of my best friends, to be honest.” Clint awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. “I…care about you.” the last part almost came out as a whisper. 

This time Tony cracked a childish smile. “Awww. I’m touched. I care about you too, Katniss.” 

“Jerk.” 

And if from then on, Clint made sure Tony was eating, nobody brought it up.


	2. Bruce

The fight against the mechanical squirrels had not gone well. Not at all. They were mean and vicious and everywhere and even more annoying than the ones in Central Park. Tony, being the tech-savvy one, had been assigned to locate the power source and shut it down, saving the people of New York from the evil rodents. A great plan, in theory. However, this had required getting out of the suit at one point, which Tony was not fond of. The suit was just too big to maneuver the small hallways (and even the ventilation system at one point) to get to the squirrel maniacs lair.

God, squirrels. Their villains were trying way too hard to get creative nowadays.

Point was, by the time he got back into the suit, he was bruised and battered and something was bleeding and another thing broken. But the fight was won, and the rest of the Avengers made it back to the tower in one piece. 

Tony had assumed he was alone on the floor where his suit disassembled, but it had completely slipped his mind that Bruce hadn’t gone on this mission because it had been too ‘petty’ of a matter for SHEILD. “Petty my ass” Tony had grunted as a robotic squirrel clawed at his cheek.

 So when he almost collapsed in the common area after exiting the suit, Bruce had been lounging in the kitchen, sipping his favorite tea.

At the sight of Tony, he jumped to his feet. “Tony! Tony, what happened? The- did- the squirrels-?”

“Yes, th’ squirrels.” Tony slurred. “M’fine, just some blood loss- I’ll just go down-”

“Like hell.” Replied Bruce, as he dragged him to the couch. He scurried out of the room and quickly returned with a first aid kit, and pushed Tony back into the couch after an escape attempt.

“I swear- Bruce- ‘m _fine-_ ” Tony protested as Bruce’s hands roamed his skin, checking for cuts, scrapes, bruises. “Why would you even bothe- OUCH“

“Yep, you have a cracked rib. _That,_ my dear Tony, is why I bother.” Tony was silent as Bruce ripped off a long strip of bandage and went to work covering up every little cut. Could’ve been a paper cut, for all Bruce seemed to care.

He fluttered over and around Tony like a mother hen. When he finally finished wrapping up the cracked rib- as Tony flat out refused to go to a hospital-Tony tried his very best to get up.

“Thank you, mother, but I think I’ll be getting back to- _woah_.” The effect of his sarcastic comment was somewhat diminished as Tony’s knees buckled out from under him and he went toppling to the floor. He never reached it, though, as the resident radiologist caught Tony in his arms. 

“You’ll be getting back to the couch, young man. You’ve lost a lot of blood and you need to hydrate. Wait here.” He went to the tap and poured a large glass of water to bring to Tony. “Here.” 

Tony grudgingly accepted the glass ( _when_ would people learn not to hand him things, sheesh) and took a sip. “This is not vodka.” He flatly stated. 

“You really are a genius. Amazing. Jarvis, would you please play Guys and Dolls?”

“Of course.” Came the British reply. The lights automatically dimmed and the film started playing. 

“ _Guys and Dolls?_ Seriously, Bruce? You know that movie puts me to sleep. It’s so boring.” He moaned. 

“You’ll get over it.” Shrugged Bruce, and he settled back to watch. He wasn’t really all the captivated by the movie either, though he’d never admit it. He was too busy checking on Tony every five seconds that he gave up trying to watch at all. 

 _Maybe it was his plan to put me to sleep. Sly bastard._ Thought Tony as he fell asleep on Bruce’s thigh, a hand lightly stroking his hair. 

Bruce was concerned for Tony. While he could more than handle himself in battle, he always seemed to forget to mention a serious injury until every teammate and civilian had been checked twice, and sometimes not even then. Bruce had seen right through the eccentric’s mask, he wasn’t nearly as selfish or egotistical as the media portrayed him. Bruce couldn't help but notice that he always apologized and forgave easily, as if he was taking the responsibility of the world without ever being asked to. And Bruce thought it was pretty noble, doing good while the world he protected abused him. 

It was hard to imagine anyone hating Tony, as right about now his cheek was smushed against Bruce’s leg and he looked five years old. 

Bruce couldn’t resist taking out his phone and snapping a picture. He couldn’t wait to send this to the rest of the team.


	3. Natasha

“Tony you’re being ridiculous.”

“Are you honestly surprised? It’s kinda my thing.” Tony retorted. 

The team was milling about the kitchen in the early morning light, eating breakfast. Steve put down his fork. “For Pete’s sake, it’s the anniversary of your own fathers death. Show some respect.” 

Not many would notice the slightly guilty and fearful expression that flickered across Tony’s face, but Natasha wasn’t one to not notice things. 

“Okay, first of all, nobody says ‘for Pete’s sake’ anymore. Second, you are not the boss of me.” Tony shoveled some oatmeal into his mouth.

“I wish you would stop acting like a child, Stark. Your father was a great man, and one of my close friends. If only you had taken after him and inherited an ounce of consideration for others.” And with that, Steve got up from his seat and left the room. Natasha set down her mug of black coffee and silently slipped off of her perch on the counter, following Rogers out into the hall. 

“Natasha, hey – what-? Hey!” Stuttered the man as Natasha pushed the super soldier into a corner with a harsh shove.

“What the hell was that, Rogers?” She snarled, pushing him back into the corner he had just tried to escape from and securing the position with her elbow across his chest. Natasha wanted to make it damn fucking clear that she was in charge here. It would have almost been comical- the tall and broad super soldier being rendered totally helpless by the 5'3 woman- if it hint been so darn terrifying.

“What, with Stark? Can you blame me? It’s the _day of-_ “ 

“I know damn well what day it is, and so does Tony. You don’t know anything, _anything_ -“ Natasha cut off with a growl, pushing her elbow harder into Steve. 

Steve was not one to scare easily. He had faced Nazi’s and war but the look on his teammate’s face made it seem like Red Skull couldn’t possibly be that bad. “I don’t understand-?” 

“ _I know,_ Steve, that’s the problem. But I cant watch him go on like this." She solemnly paused. "Howard Stark was not as nice of a man as you seem to think he was.” 

Natasha sighed and backed off a little bit, allowing Steve to relax. “Or perhaps he was when you knew him. Tony, however, had a very different experience with his father.” 

Steve bit his lip, already feeling guilt rising in his throat. He could tell where this was going. 

“Howard was an angry drunk and took all his frustration out on Tony. Reports suggest the abuse continued even when he was sober. But never anywhere visible, or the company would suffer the wrath of the media. In the papers, the Stark family was the picture perfect American dream. But at home, Howard was abusive, cold, critical, and wouldn’t stop comparing his son to his old friend Captain America.” 

Steve’s heart dropped into his stomach. _Oh god._ All those times he had criticized Tony for not being like his father, and his father had done the same thing to Tony about Steve. Every harsh comment or offhanded criticism he had ever inflicted on Tony sped to the front of Steve’s mind. Tony had always grinned sadly, brushed it off, made himself a drink and retreated to the lab or his workshop. How could he have missed it? It was his job to take care of the team, and he had been neglecting a very important member- and for what, a petty feud? 

“I had no idea… I’m sorry, Natasha.” Natasha seemed satisfied that her point had made it across.

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to. And don’t mention this to Tony. He gets embarrassed if someone figures out he has feelings.” 

The agent began walking away, leaving Rogers with his thoughts. “Romanoff?” He called out. Natasha paused and looked back. “You seem to care a an awful lot about Tony.”

“We all do.” She called back. “And it would be in your best interest to be kind to him.” 

Steve nodded, marveling at how much more there was to the billionaire that met the eye.


	4. Steve

Tony, to say the least, had not been having a good day. Not at all. He had been working down in the shop, making completely unnecessary but very cool suit improvements. The television was playing mindlessly in the background, and Tony wasn’t really listening, until- “In today’s story, we explore the path of the late Obadiah Stane. His relationship with the Stark family, his rise to glory, and his downfall as his true intentions were revealed.” Came the voice of a woman.

Tony had sat mesmerized, wrench in his hand, as the program delved deep into the past of a man Tony had once considered family. His only family, before- before… 

And then Tony had to watch as Stane ripped the arc reactor right out of his chest. He watched himself, paralyzed, being _murdered_ in his own home, his struggle to the elevator, and his collapse. And then, they replayed it. _Twice_. The third time had slow motion coverage and close-ups, just in case the audience didn't quite catch the footage of complete and utter betrayal.

 _How the hell did they get that footage?_ Tony wondered. Jarvis was always recording, he knew the clip existed, but how did it get to the public? Who could fuck up this badly? _SHEILD could._ Shit. SHEILD. Tony knew he had his own top-secret file, and they could’ve hacked into Jarvis… and Loki had made it clear that hacking into SHEILD’s files wasn’t exactly impossible. Probably some techie looking to make a buck. Probably a lot of bucks.

Tony shakily rose from his seat and grabbed the tabletop to avoid falling over, as his legs did not seem to be cooperating. He stumbled to the elevator and sank down, tears clouding his vision. He couldn’t bring himself to care. All he could see was Obie ripping out his heart again and again- and whit if it happened again? He couldn’t let it happen again. 

And he thought about his team, the team he had grown to love, despite their bickering. No doubt, he had learned to trust his team and crave their company. 

But they didn’t love him. 

How could they? Nobody had ever really loved Tony, except for maybe Pepper and Rhodey. The Avengers only really tolerated Tony. He was only good for his tech. His suit. And it dawned on Tony that none of them liked Tony Stark, they liked Iron Man. The hero. 

“Common floor.” He mumbled to Jarvis, and the elevator started moving up. He needed a damn drink. Or two. Or eight. During the ride, Tony stood up, leaning heavily on the walls around him. 

The elevator dinged open, and Tony b-lined for the extensive bar. That was until he noticed five silent Avengers staring at him. And in the background, a tv was broadcasting footage of a one Obadiah Stane. 

Tony thought he was gonna be sick. 

He turned right the fuck around and back into the elevator. “Tony-” someone said, probably Clint, but Tony was gone. He could tell his eyes were probably bloodshot and puffy, and his overall appearance couldn’t be that great. Jarvis was already moving his creator to his bedroom, knowing he needed rest and quiet. 

 

Tony had been brooding in his bedroom all day, slipping in and out of a restless sleep. Every time he entered a deep sleep he shot out of bed, hands scrambling to check the reactor, to see if it was still there. 

It was after one of these dreams that Tony surveyed his room- and noticed a piece of paper on the floor by his bedroom door. He stood up, knowing he wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon. He picked up the paper, and was shocked at what he found.

It was a drawing, and a quite good one at that. It was of the team, centered around Tony, at an amusement park. Tony remembered the day fondly. A mission had brought them to Orlando, and when everything had been taken care of, Tony had dragged everyone along to Disney World. Surprisingly, nobody had really protested, not even Bruce, who was not fond of large crowds. 

The drawing showed Natasha and her flaming red hair, captured by a perfect colored pencil sitting on the shoulders of Clint, who was sporting a princess crown and wielding a wand topped with a star. On the right, Thor was chomping on a huge pretzel with his hair in a bun, and was next to a Bruce with popcorn in one hand and Simba stuffed animal trailing in the other. In the middle was Steve, and Tony himself, who had large Mickey Mouse ears atop his head. A large castle shadowed them in the background. All of them were smiling, laughing towards Tony. They all looked so relaxed, so happy and carefree- they looked like a family. A real family. Who would have thought that a gang of misfits, who had never had real families of their own, could come together and be so happy. 

The drawing was perfect. It captured Bruce’s curls, the crinkles on Tony’s eyes when he smiled. It couldn’t have been anyone but Steve. He was an outstanding artist, and from what Tony could tell, the extent of anyone else’s drawing skills stopped at stick figures. 

Tony was touched, genuinely touched, that Steve had taken the time to draw this. It was exactly what he needed, though he would never admit it. His team cared. They actually cared about him, he realized. He was being dumb. 

 

The next day Tony went out and bought a frame.


	5. Thor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I promise you, this is not tentacle porn

“Can you believe it, Jarv? Fury finally let me out by myself like a big boy.” Tony swooped over the lake, firing another shot into the murky dark water. 

“I actually cannot believe it, sir.” Came Jarvis’ reply. 

“Funny, Jay. I feel like Cyclops is really starting to trust me. Is it too soon to ask him to be my dad?” Director Fury had, in fact, sent Tony out on his very own mission to take down the Loch Ness Monster. Okay, it wasn’t the very same monster, but close enough and apparently small enough for Iron Man to handle it himself. 

After another shot from the reactor on his hand, and the ugly creature grew frustrated and reared its head out of the water, letting loose a roar.

“That’s it, come out and play.” Tony muttered to himself. He swooped lower, towards the water to get a better shot at the beast. He narrowly avoided crashing right into –tentacles? 

 _The thing has tentacles now? Would’ve been nice to know._ The scaly green monster was now steadily rising to the surface, and it had _a lot_ of tentacles. It bellowed out a piercing screech and flailed its arms every which way. This thing was big, bigger than the average monster of the week. Its deep red eyes were surrounded by what appeared to be thick, slimy seaweed that covered the whole beast. Tho summarize: ew. Tony was weaving in and out of arms, firing shots- taking out a few limbs in the process. 

And then the entire thing had risen above the water. 

Tony vaguely wondered if sending him out alone was an accident. 

Aha! The monster made a fatal mistake. His chest was now just above the water, it’s heart exposed.

“I’m going in, Jay. Wish me luck dear.” 

“Sir, that would not be wise. Your chances of reaching the heart without being hit by a tentacle are very slim.”

 “Somebody doesn’t believe in me. Hurts, Jarvis. Hurts.” Tony rounded the perimeter of the lake once before shooting back in towards the heart of Nessy at full speed, knowing he had no other choice. He wove in and out of the offending limbs like a maze.

 _One tentacle, two tentacles,_ and hey, this wasn’t that hard. He felt the arc reactor in the center of his chest buzzing with power, warming up to deliver the kill shot. 

 _Four tentacle, five, six, sev-eight,_ and okay, where were all these tentacles coming from? 

He was nearing the chest now, and slingshot around a limb- _BAM!_ The reactor exploded, a perfect shot- and the creature wailed a terrible wail, flailing limbs everywhere- and it started to fall. Tony quickly realized he had to get _out of here_. 

Flying back around, falling limbs crashing into the water around him- swerve left, swerve right, another right, almost home free, when-

A tentacle crashed directly on top of Tony, and _damn_ those things were heavy. He went crashing down, was about to hit the water. Tony scrambled for the jets all over the suit. He caught himself just in time, shakily trying to steady himself as he soared across the water, but the limbs were still crashing down around him, and the suit must have been damaged somehow, because the jets kept _fucking failing_ \- and this was not good. 

“Come on- just a little farther-“ Tony urged the suit, he was nearing the shore- 

And that was when all the jets failed at once and Tony went pummeling into the murky waters.  The exposed wiring in the suit combined with water- Tony was pretty sure he was not going to enjoy the next few minutes. 

 _And suddenly all Tony could hear was yelling- shouting- babbling, he couldn’t understand any of it. It was a foreign language, and fear coursed through Tony, he HAD to get out of here he had to get out of here- and he was being forced under water, he couldn’t breathe he couldn’t breathe and there was a car battery in his chest, a fucking car battery forced into his chest sending chocks of painful electricity through his heart and he was dying, he couldn’t breathe he couldn’t breathe HE COULDN’T BREATHE-_

And the next thing Tony felt was strong hands not pushing him down, but pulling him up, up and away, far away. And fast. 

Tony coughed and sputtered, gasping in breathes of fresh air. He dizzily looked up, and he was- flying? But it was definitely not the suit. He felt large arms holding him up, grasping him tightly, and he looked up to see Thor and his gold hair glistening in the sun. 

“I have you now, brother Tony. I have you.” And with Mjölnir leading the way, Thor flew them away from the lake with the drowning sea monster.


	6. Team

The whole team was waiting when Thor landed on the deck of the Avengers tower, a body encased in a damaged metal suit in his arms. 

Everyone rushed forward, taking Tony collectively in their arms and laying him on the nearby couch. 

“We need to get his suit off-“ Commanded Steve, authoritative tone unchallenged. 

“There’s a manual switch- right on the upper back of the suit- _hurry,_ I think its still electrocuting him-“ Said Bruce, and Natasha quickly found the spot and released Tony from the armor. Steve pushed it out of the way and turned back to the twitching Tony, but Clint was already holding his shoulders, trying to snap him out of what was clearly a flashback of some sort.

“Please, please, stop stop _stop- STOP PLEASE-_ I wont build it I wont build it please, I cant breathe, I cant breathe, _I cant- I cant-_ “ 

“Tony, its Clint, its just Clint, I’ve got you, you’re safe. You’re safe now.” Clint kept up the mantra, desperate to awaken Tony from whatever hell he was reliving. “Tony, _please,_ you’re home, you’re at the tower and we're all here and nobody is attacking us and I will let you beat me in Mario Kart _please_ Tony-“

Tony suddenly stopped moving, lying eerily still, before his eyes snapped open.

“Mario Kart-?” Steve asked to no one in particular.

Tony blinked wetly, looking around the room. Restrained by his wrists in Clint’s strong grip, Tony peered at the faces surrounding him. And then he broke.

Tony’s breath came in gasps, eyes welling with tears and desperately trying to gain control of his breathing. Clint brought him up, cradling Tony as he sobbed into his shoulders.

“Its okay, Tony. Breathe. You’re safe from them now.” Tony’s sobs subsided slightly, and he slowly leveled out his breathing.

“I’m so-sorry, I’m fine- I –I just-”

"Солнышко, you don’t need to be embarrassed.” Voiced Natasha.

“Your PTSD is not something to be ashamed of. We’re your friends, Tony, we’re here to help. Believe it or not, we actually care about you” Said Bruce. He motioned to Steve to get something hot to drink, and Steve, even though used to giving orders instead of receiving them, nodded and hurried to the kitchen to fix some tea.

Natasha handed Clint a towel, which he scruffed Tony’s hair up with- he didn’t think he was quite ready for a shower. When he finished, Tony’s hair was sticking up in the back and messy, like a lost wet puppy. “Aww, you’re adorable.” Clint smiled.

Tony grinned weakly back, too tired to think of one of his extremely witty and clever comebacks. 

The lights dimmed, and Thor wrapped a thick warm blue blanket around Tony’s shoulders. Someone told Jarvis to play Princess bride, and the team started gravitating back towards Tony. Clint ever-so-cleverly pulled Tony back into his arms so he was settled with his chest pressing against the billionaires back, and Bruce slid under his legs so they rested on his lap. Steve returned with a warm cup of soothing tea, which he placed into Tony’s hands before taking his seat on the couch. Thor sat in his usual spot on the floor right in front of Tony, while Natasha stuck herself into a comfy corner where she could watch over her team. 

More than once, Tony tried to shakily stand up and leave, saying he was fine, but his team always pulled him back, insisting no no, this was the best part, you make such a wonderful blanket, please stay, at least until the end of the movie. 

Natasha caught the mug just as it slipped from the engineer’s fingers. And surrounded by the warmth and comfort of his team, his family, Tony fell asleep. And that night he did not dream.


End file.
